


You gotta hold on

by L_I_N_Z



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 08:32:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4341509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_I_N_Z/pseuds/L_I_N_Z
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Rick and Daryl got out of the prison together? <br/>What would change?<br/>More importantly who would survive?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rick walked around the prison looking for somebody, anyone.  
"Carl!" He called.  
There was no answer.  
"CARL!!!" He yelled  
"Rick?" a voice asked.  
Rick looked around to see Daryl.  
"Daryl!" Rick said running towards the man.  
"Oh my god Rick, we need to get outta here!"   
"We gotta go Rick."  
Rick cried as the walked out of the prison.  
They'd just seen the car seat that Judith was once in.  
Daryl had his arm around Rick to keep him upright.  
They'd needed somewhere to hold up.  
They needed a place for Rick to rest. Daryl walked with Rick out of their home.  
They would never see it again.  
They couldn't run, they couldn't hide. Rick was too week. They needed a place.   
They finally came across a glass station.  
"Wait out here." Daryl told Rick, as he walked inside.  
He killed a few walkers and left the building.   
Rick was sitting crying.  
Daryl offered a hand to help the man up.  
They didn't talk much.   
Daryl locked the place up as Rick sat crying.   
Daryl felt terrible for Rick.  
He'd just lost all his family.   
Daryl paused as he realized he'd just lost all his family too.   
He couldn't be weak.  
He had to be strong, stronger then Rick at least.   
Rick had been sleeping ever since they'd reached the gas station.   
Daryl looked around for any supply's they could use. There was nothing but two bottles of water, and a packet of beef jerky.   
He took a swig of water quietly and put his crossbow between his knees.  
He looked at Rick sleeping and wondered to himself if this was it. If this was how he was going to die.  
-  
"Rick?" He asked the sleeping man.  
"Wake up for me." There was no reply.  
"Rick!" He said harshly.  
He tried to feel the mans pulse.  
There was nothing.   
Daryl was paranoid and rolled the man around quickly.  
He had never done mouth too mouth, he wasn't even sure if that was what Rick needed.  
But he wasn't ready for Rick to die.  
He pressed his lips to ricks, and blew air into his mouth.   
Then he took his hands and pressed down on ricks chest.  
He did it again, and again.  
"Hold on!" He shouted   
"Please hold on!"  
He said into Ricks ear.  
There was nothing.  
"Rick!" He yelled.  
He felt his pulse and there was still nothing.  
He fell on his elbows in defeat crying. The   
"No... Please..."  
He cried.  
"No! No!"   
It was Rick, his friend, he felt defeated, and defenseless.  
He punched the ground, tears streaming down his face.  
He was sitting with his hands on his crossbow when he heard moaning.  
Shit. We don't let our own turn seemed to not register in his brain.   
He was getting ready to shoot him when he said the word.  
"Daryl." He muttered   
Daryl lunged towards Rick.  
"Oh my god! You're alive!!!" Daryl quickly laughed, practically throwing himself on the man.   
He realized this was the first time he hugged the man.  
He didn't care.  
Rick laughed at the man.  
"I'm so glad you're alive." Daryl told Rick.  
"Thank you." Rick weakly said.  
Daryl pulled away thinking about what he almost said  
'I love you.'


	2. Still.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick and Daryl share a night full of moonshine, and secrets.

They didn't do much the next couple of days.  
Rick healed, and Daryl went to hunt.  
They didn't talk much.  
Rick cried a lot, and Daryl didn't know how to handle it.  
Three nights after it happened they sat down eating a squirrel that Daryl had found.  
Daryl chewed on it looking frustrated.  
"I think I can walk around again... You know, we can look for other."  
"There ain't no others." Daryl hissed.  
"We don't know that. Michonne could be out there... Maggie... Glenn... Beth..."  
He stopped talking for a moment.  
"Carl." He added.  
Daryl looked up at him.   
"He's a tough one, your little boy." He told Rick.  
Rick nodded.  
"That he is." He agreed.  
"Those others, Glenn... He can't handle himself is his condition. Beth, she's... You know... Michonne and Maggie I believe they could be out there."   
Rick didn't want to think about it.  
It hurt too much.   
Glenn was one of his best friends, and Beth was so sweet. He knew this was true.  
They were probably dead.  
"You know, i tried... To save him... To save Hershel" Daryl trailed off.  
"Its not your fault, Hershel... That wasn't your fault. It's not on you Daryl."  
Rick argued.  
He looked at Daryl who was starting to cry.  
"Hey, it's not on you." He said again.  
"You and I bein together, that's everything."  
Daryl let out a sob.  
Rick scooted towards him and put his arm around him.  
"Your my brother."  
Daryl looked at him confused, sniffing back.  
Rick squeezed him closer.  
Daryl wouldn't normally let somebody hold him like this.  
But this wasn't just for him.  
It was also for Rick.  
Rick needed comfort just as much as he did.   
"Um... I... Daryl, I need to... I need to tell you somthin." Rick said.  
Daryl looked up at the man.  
"You... You make me want to keep living."   
Daryl's heart skipped a beat.  
He had feelings for Rick basically since he met him. Of course he always kept these feelings at bay. He'd always tell himself they were wrong, or stupid. But tonight... He didn't think he could keep them much longer.  
Rick placed his chin on Daryl's head.  
Neither men spoke for what seemed like hours.  
They just sat there, holding each other.  
Eventually Daryl fell asleep on ricks lap.  
Rick couldn't sleep at night anymore.  
He just stared at Daryl the whole time.  
He watched him sleep.  
He twisted his blood stained fingers in his hair.  
He still hadn't washed the blood off his hands.  
It wasn't too hard on his priority list.  
He was surprised that a man as damaged as Daryl could sleep so peacefully.  
Once he knew Daryl was asleep he said something he wanted to say earlier, but didn't have the courage to.  
"I love you." He said it so quietly you could easily miss it.  
But he had said it all the same.  
Then he leaned down slowly, and kissed him atop the head.  
-  
"We should get moving." Daryl told him that morning after they finished there breakfast.  
Rick nodded in agreement.  
"You sure your up for this?" He questioned.  
"Mhm." Rick answered.  
"Alright." Daryl hummed taking his crossbow in his hands.  
Rick stood up, and followed him.  
They walked around aimlessly.  
They hadn't found any tracks all morning, and Rick seemed to be giving up hope.  
That's when Daryl spotted something he wished he hadn't.  
Carl's hat.  
He walked towards it cautiously.  
"What is it?" He heard Rick ask.  
He closed his eyes.  
He heard Rick gasp behind him.   
He walked towards the hat to pick it up. He brushed leaves, and dirt off it.  
There was a group of walkers   
Around the hat.  
Daryl shot then all with the crossbow, Rick didn't do anything. When he looked back he was on his knees crying.  
Daryl walked towards him.  
"Hey, there's still a trail... We don't... We still don't know if they... He could still be out here."  
He was lying. The chances of Carl being alive were slim.  
There was barley any trail.  
They had to do it.  
Rick had to have some hope.  
They kept walking all the rest of the day, until the trail was completely dead.  
They were both exhausted, dehydrated, and not to mention starving.  
They set up a small camp, and cooked a small swirl that Daryl shot earlier that day.  
"We'll start up again tomorrow."  
Daryl promised, looking at Rick who was emotionlessly holding Carl's hat.  
"Mhm." Rick agreed.  
Daryl put his hand on the other mans shoulder.  
He wasn't great at comfort, but he was going to try to be.  
The other man looked up at him, surprised.  
"What?" Daryl asked.  
"Nothin, just yesterday I was comforting you... Now your comforting me." Rick answered.  
Daryl huffed in agreement.  
"Guess your right."  
-  
They trudged though the woods for a few more days. Not finding much, apart from a few killed walkers, and something that looked like a struggle.  
Daryl was good at tracking, but not this good.  
One night after going through the woods they found a shed. Daryl had been there before with Michonne. He supposed it was good enough for one night.  
They didn't talk too much.   
Rick felt like they should.   
They could be the only ones left, they should make the most of it.  
He'd found the still out back, he was the one who found the moonshine.  
"Gotcha somthin." Rick said, opening his bag.  
"Hmm?" Daryl asked.  
Rick pulled the mason jar out.  
"Moonshine!"  
They'd sat themselves down, each with there own jar, and they began drinking.  
"Have you ever had moonshine?" Rick questioned.  
Daryl raised his eyebrows.  
"Few times, growing up in Georgia, you'd expect to."  
He answered  
"Yeah, same."  
"Really?" Daryl asked surprised.  
"I haven't always been good cop Rick Grimes." He laughed before pausing.  
"It was Shane. We were teenagers and he wanted to do somthin fun."  
He took a sip of moonshine, looking away.  
It still hurt to think about Shane.  
\- many drinks later -  
"Tell me a secret." Rick pleaded.  
"Naw." Daryl argued.  
"I'll tell you one!" Rick smiled.  
"If you tell me one." He added.  
"You're a real light weight aren't you?" Daryl asked.  
"No, you're just blurry!"  
Daryl rolled his eyes.  
"You go first." Daryl urged.  
"I've had sex with two people in my life. Female, and male... You?"  
Daryl was shocked to hear this. Firstly that Rick had only had sex with two people.  
Secondly that one of them was a man.  
He let his moth hang opened before he shut it, looking at the floor.  
"Dunno." He sighed  
"Cummon, there must be some number you can think of!"   
"I don't know, nine, ten... Dunno."  
Rick raised an eyebrow.  
Daryl knew what he wanted to know.  
He just wasn't sure if he wanted to answer.   
Rick would think he was a faggot, just like his father did, just like merl.  
"And. Three of them were women."  
Rick shifted in his position.  
"So are you..."  
"Gay?" Daryl finished.  
"Yeah.... I guess..."  
"That's fine with me. It really is."  
Rick promised.  
There was a moment of silence.  
"I slept with Shane." Rick told him, breaking the silence.  
Daryl raised an eyebrow.  
He wasn't shocked, he figured it had to be someone like that.  
"It was... Weird... It was like my first. I was tired of being alone, and he wanted to experiment." Rick smiled.  
Daryl took a sip of the moonshine in his hands.  
"The people I slept with... They weren't good people." Daryl told Rick.  
Rick closed his eyes.  
He knew Daryl deserved better.  
Daryl deserved the best.  
Rick closed his eyes.  
"I think I'm falling in love with you." He blurted out.


End file.
